City Government
City’s First Employee Steps Down
Diana Wheeler starts her own consulting business
When a city is established, there’s a lot to do to get it going. One of the most important decisions is hiring effective staff. Diana Wheeler was one of those qualified employees who helped turn Peachtree Corners into the community it is today. She’s also credited with being the city’s first hire.
“I worked in Alpharetta for about 20 years as a community development director, and I decided that it was time to try something new and different, something I hadn’t done before. I was going to start up my own consulting business,” said Wheeler.
She was only a few days into her new career when the city of Peachtree Corners called.
“They said, ‘Hey, we’d like you to come and help us out. We’re starting up a new city, and we don’t really have any planners. We need a community development department,” said Wheeler.
So, she went back into city government work and put off starting her business.
Years of service
“I was the only employee for a while,” she said. “There were a lot of interesting times, and there were opportunities I’ve never had before, like setting up all of their programs and systems at the beginning.”
At a City Council meeting on April 23, Wheeler was recognized for more than 12 years of dedicated service to the city.
“A lot of things were accomplished, and after 12 years, I thought, well, you know, I still want that one last sort of professional challenge that I hadn’t ever done before, which was to go out on my own and take advantage of the connections that I’ve made over the years and work on projects that were of interest to me,” she said.
She let the city leadership know that it was time for that change and that she’d be making that change at the end of April.
“Diana’s daily presence was profoundly valued by her colleagues, who benefitted from her expertise, leadership, and perhaps most importantly, her composure in the face of the numerous challenges that the Peachtree Corners city government has encountered during her tenure,” read a statement from the city.
Don’t call it a retirement
As the community development director, Wheeler wore a lot of hats, metaphorically speaking.
“When I was community development director, I had four divisions: the building department, which issues permits and performs inspections; code enforcement, which basically enforces the city’s regulations in commercial and residential areas; planning and zoning, which does all the public hearings and all the zoning research work, and when we added the Town Center, we added special events,” she said. “It’s just a lot of different things. And the city has a very limited number of employees. So, everybody does multiple tasks.”
But she hasn’t entirely left the city. Through the end of the year, she’ll be coordinating the special events at the Town Center.
“We’ve got an incredible lineup. We have all sorts of really cool concerts … and we’re also introducing a night market, which is like a farmer’s market,” she said.
The market will take place on the second Saturday of the month and will have about 14 different vendors selling produce, homemade products, and other items.
“We’re going to have a talent competition this year,” she said. “It’s called Peachtree Corners Has Talent, and we’re asking people to submit YouTube videos, and there are prizes for winners.”
Additionally, there’s a children’s festival and one for the canines in the new dog park.
“On December 4, we’re going to have the huge holiday glow event, which is our big holiday gala at the town center with a concert and Santa and all sorts of stuff for kids to do and a sing-along and lots of free hot chocolate and cookies and things like that,” she said.
Wheeler is unsure if she’ll continue working as a consultant with the city beyond December, but she’s excited about her next chapter. Her consulting business is focused on special projects.
A new journey as a consultant
“In communities where they have a limited staff but would like to take on a project, for example, the city of Jasper and the city of Milton have two different areas where they have projects that they would like to take on, but they don’t have the staff resources,” she said.
That’s where she’ll come in.
“They hire people sort of as a side project to work just on that project. And those are the sort of things that I would do,” she said. “I get to focus on a specific project and don’t deal with the day-to-day things.”
Wheeler said she likes that she gets to choose what she wants to work on and use her skills and experience to the fullest.
Highlights of Wheeler’s career with the city of Peachtree Corners:
- She laid the groundwork for the establishment of Peachtree Corners’ inaugural City Hall.
- She was instrumental in the development of the Holcomb Bridge Corridor Urban Redevelopment Plan, Livable Centers Initiative, Innovation Hub Master Plan, Winters Chapel Road Corridor Study and conceptual planning for the Multi-Use Trail network.
- She established and nurtured the Arts Council, created the Arts & Culture Master Plan, and promoted other public art initiatives, bringing the residents enriching cultural experiences, artistic expression and a sense of community pride.
- She played a pivotal role in the establishment and ongoing support of the Peachtree Corners Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Downtown Development Authority, Redevelopment Authority, Arts Council, and Green Committee.
- She played a crucial role in securing the city’s Green Community Certification and its Tree City USA recognition.
- She spearheaded the implementation of the city’s initial zoning laws and led the Code Enforcement, Building and Permitting and Planning and Zoning Departments.
- She pioneered the city’s first Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
- She played a key role in launching Special Service Districts, contributing significantly to their initiation and success.
- She Diana guided Town Green and Town Center initiatives.
- She organized and managed Peachtree Corners’ special events.
Although crime isn’t on the rise, and the Gwinnett County Police Department (GCPD) is fulfilling its role in fighting crime, the City of Peachtree Corners is asking residents, business owners and city stakeholders if they believe the city should form its own police department.
With over 100 people in attendance, City Manager Brian Johnson led the discussion about the future of policing in Peachtree Corners. He presented the findings from a survey conducted by the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM), a nationally-recognized law enforcement consulting and training firm, as well as information about patrol officer staffing, response times, costs to tax payers and a potential timeline.
Ensuring public safety
Johnson kicked off his presentation by explaining that it is the duty of the mayor and city council to ensure public safety, including reviewing law enforcement.
“Maybe it needs to grow, maybe it needs to change its focus. But city council is the one that has the decision-making responsibility,” he said.
He was also adamant that this isn’t a done deal.
“I hit this point already, but I want to hit it again. This is the start of a conversation, a community conversation and feedback to council. There hasn’t been a decision,” he said. “Council has not received this presentation from me. They’re here to watch and learn from your feedback of this.”
Mayor Mike Mason was present at the meeting, along with all of the city council members except Eric Christ who was out of town and watching remotely.
Issues and obstacles
Johnson explained that the grounds for the inquiry were based on issues about communication, access to information and enforcement of city-specific ordinances. He cited an example where a city rule that private residences can’t be rented on a short-term basis like Vrbo or Airbnb wasn’t enforced by GCPD. An owner tried to circumvent the ordinance by only renting the outside of the house. A loud pool party ensued, and frustrated neighbors dialed 911.
“Officers showed up and they said, ‘We can’t enforce the city’s noise ordinance,’” Johnson said.
The first stage to fix this problem was creating the marshal program to bridge the gap between code enforcement and GCPD.
“[We thought] they would be able to enforce both local ordinance and state law, since they are a function of the city, and they could maybe be a force multiplier for Gwinnett since [marshals] don’t have to respond to 911 calls,” said Johnson.
But other issues arose shortly after the department was formed.
“We were still working towards getting that good balance, but we have been faced recently with a couple of things that make it harder for us,” said Johnson.
Seeking shared access
Instead of GCPD giving PTC marshals read-only, quick access to incident reports, dispatch calls and other information, the marshals department was required to file open records requests through the same process as any civilian.
“They were denied, as well as the city of Sugar Hill, [when] asked for the ability to see, not change, but see the computer-aided dispatch information, so that they would know where Gwinnett County police officers were; so that they could avoid stepping on their toes or maybe looking to support their efforts, and they haven’t been granted that,” said Johnson.
He added that the GCPD has video cameras on certain roadways that are used for various reasons, and law enforcement can use them when there’s crime in the area. Peachtree Corners marshals were denied access to those cameras.
“Conversely, we have a couple hundred cameras in the city, and we definitely want them to have access to them,” said Johnson. “So the frustration out of not being able to get that symbiosis between the marshals and police made us start thinking, all right, you know, is there another option?”
Community feedback
CPSM utilized data from GCPD to discern if Peachtree Corners could feasibly stand its own force. It also took into consideration crime trends, costs and many other factors. It recommended a 55-officer department, costing $12.1 million annually, with a $2.2 million upfront cost.
Comparing the two options to “renting vs. owning” the primary law enforcement agency in the city, Johnson presented pros and cons for each. Once the question-and-answer portion began, there was no obvious choice. Men and women, young and more advanced in age, had both similar and differing opinions.
One young man, who identified himself as a local small business owner named Alexander, argued that with artificial intelligence increasing the efficiency of administrative tasks, perhaps the city wouldn’t need a full 68-man department of civilians and sworn officers.
Some accused the city of devising a solution in need of a problem. Others were concerned that paying approximately $100,00 for a study was throwing good money after bad.
But at the end of it all, the city is continuing to seek feedback and is encouraging everyone to make informed decisions. The meeting was taped and is available on the city website along with Johnson’s PowerPoint presentation, a copy of the study done by CPSM and a survey.
As far as a timeline goes, city officials would like folks to take the summer to mull it over and come back in the fall to take another look at the proposal.
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